Making a great outline
updated January 2022
One of the most important features of a great outline is that everything fits together, in its proper place. Here are three guidelines to remember.
Outlines build out from a general theme or question to more specific information
All specific items within an outline heading should relate directly to that heading
Each item in the outline should identify unique information
So, what can you do to make sure all that happens?
Research your topic to get a basic understanding. Next, brainstorm related questions that may serve as starters for both your research question and your main headings. You can find out more about making a strong research question by clicking on this link.
Here are three strategies to help you build great topic headings and subheadings:
The Five Ws
Compare and Contrast
Cause-Action-Effect
The Five Ws
The five Ws can suggest an effective way to organize your information into groups.
Who: Organize your ideas according to important people or groups involved
What: Separate your main topic into different events, or concepts, or other items that all related to the topic
When: Structure your information in the order in which it happened, or could happen
Where: Identify different regions, countries, or other places or geographic features
Why: Identify different reasons to explain why your situation exists, or the impact your situation has. This is similar to the "cause and effect" outline structure.
Compare and Contrast
You can compare and contrast two or more items, based upon the features they share. The key here is to identify those features. You can refer back to the Five Ws if you like, to help build a basis for comparison.
Cause - Action - Effect
This is a common structure for research projects in many school subjects. It's also a an effective way to create an outline.
Cause: Why did or does something happen?
Action: What can we observe and/or learn about the action as it takes place (or took place)?
Effect: What are/were the most important results?
You may also notice that any one of these three sections can provide the structure for an entire outine. Are there multiple causes? You may want to consider each cause separately, and then analyze their relative importance.